but I also think you are giving up on him way too soon. His type of tools are rare to say the least, and he is among the youngest if not the youngest in his league. If he can manage to hit .250, he would still be a very valuable player.

Crashing a dirtbike and hurting your arm is certainly a bit of an immature decision for a stud pitching prospect. I don’t know that I’d necessarily question his commitment to the game if it’s just that, though. They aren’t all Roger Staubach types who focus on success on the field and abstain from all types of fun.

However, if it is something more than that, I’d be interested to hear. It’s the first I’ve heard of this.

I would prefer to say it “Grool-on,” but I think I heard somewhere its pronounced with a silent L, like “Grew-on.”

of college hitting prospects who looked great in short season and low A ball and then never amounted to anything in Double-A or above. I generally ignore those guys as prospects until they show me they can handle Double-A pitching. I learned the hard way on that issue many years ago (e.g. Jeremy Cleveland, Andrew Wishy, Dane Bubela, Adam Bourassa, Steve Murphy, etc.)

Tim Smith and Mitch Moreland seem to have made the transition to the upper levels very successfully. I didn’t pay a whole lot of attention to them last year. A year from now, we’ll know if Bianucci is the next Moreland or the next Cleveland. Right now, I have no real reason to believe he’s more likely to become one than the other.